Proper fit is always an issue with women's shoes. Women frequently forego comfort for the sake of style. Not only are such stylish shoes uncomfortable, they can cause callous formations, bruises, and cuts around the metatarsal/phalanges joints (MPJ). There are at least three causes of such discomfort and callous formations. A first cause is improper fit. A second cause is the shoe material rubbing against the delicate skin of the foot for long periods of time. A third cause is the design cut of certain styles of shoes.
With regard to proper fitment of a shoe, one of the most common women's shoe fitment issues relate to the fit around the MPJ zone. While shoe manufacturers offer the standard widths of narrow, medium, and wide such size gradation is insufficient to account for width variations within those categories. A woman's foot that fits a medium, for example, might still feel a painful rubbing at the MPJ zone, and going to the next width category is not an option (the shoe would not stay on the foot). Further, it is very common that one foot is wider than the other (due to bunions, bunionettes or natural asymmetry) making shoe size selection more difficult as no shoe manufacturer or supplier will sell individual shoes as opposed to pairs of shoes, ie. It's not possible to buy a left foot medium and right foot wide without buying two pairs of shoes. And even if they did, the size gradations are too crude leaving the person again to buy a tighter shoe and suffer the pain or buy a wider shoe that flops around.
With regard to shoe material, some shoe materials often cause skin irritation even if the shoe is a perfect fit. The edge of the shoe material rubbing the foot can wear away the skin on the top of the foot where it comes in contact. The constant shifting of weight while walking pushes the foot into the edge of the shoe effectively turning the top of the shoe material into a planer.
With regard to shoe style, the above problems can be exacerbated by certain popular styles of women's shoes including flats, pumps, and any other high heel style shoe.
Prior art solution to the above identified problems include: 1) endure the pain—the majority of women just simply endure the pain, 2) wear less fashionable shoes—women can wear less fashionable shoes than they otherwise would desire, 3) local cover—women can use products such as band-aids® or mole-skin® that are unattractive and cover only a small portion of the trouble area do not reliably stay in place and are not resusable. Similarly, two widely known prior art solutions that are not feasible for women's dress shoes include: 1) socks—they cannot be worn with fancier shoe styles and socks cover the entire foot (not desirable), and 2) panty hose—they are often too sheer and don't provide enough protection.
What is needed is a loop of material that covers substantially all of the trouble area but only the trouble areas where such loop can be neutral or natural in color to minimize its impact on the style of the shoe or flashy or have its own design that can add “strappiness” or “laciness” or contrasting color. Such a foot loop could be designed to change the look of the shoe in many ways since many styles are envisioned. Additionally, appliqués will be available to add another dimension to the look if such is desired.
The disclosed to ornamental and utilitarian technologies address at least the above identified problems by forming a protective layer between the problem areas (e.g. side and top around the MPJ zone) of the foot and the shoe material.